"Innovation resulting in new product introduction has been in scant supply."

But new products that will have mass utility and appeal always have been rare, slow to emerge, unpredictable. That is my point. No one can force that, and no one ever has. Apple waits until they have a winner. New products that are market duds are plentiful elsewhere and would be of no benefit to Apple. They would do harm as distractions. Seriously, what new products do you want? Maybe an iChef to cook for you? The iMaid? Great ideas, but...

I agree that Apple is a mature company. I disagree with the tone of the criticism implying they no longer innovate, which is just silly. There shouldn't be a criticism at all in this regard, simply an understanding of reality.

The big error here is to harp on a sense that innovation at Apple has stalled. In contrast, Apple is ever pushing Samsung et al to keep up. About 99% of innovation, by the way, is, and always was, incremental. Until someone else innovates better or comes up with something revolutionary and leaves Apple behind, the criticism is hollow. Google glass anyone? Samsung watch? These products are duds, toys for the nerdiest of nerds, annoying clutter for the rest of us without much market or real value -- just as they were kinda obvious (Google didn't originate the computer screen on glasses.) To find something revolutionary that we actually want and need? That's tough. It will happen again, but no one can will it to happen -- no one.

Yahoo seems to be getting worse with the changes. Yahoo email got so bad, with flashing ads that make it impossible to read a message without going batty, that i would have dropped it after 15 years except that Apple's email program will download the messages without me having to visit the site. Yahoo Sports, which had been my default, is now buggy and less useable, plus, Yahoo fired their best writers and eliminated their entertaining sports video, so now I hardly use Yahoo Sports. My fantasy football league would not even consider Yahoo because several of us had seen how buggy their pages can be. Their MyYahoo page doesn't work as well now that they have revamped it, like the Sports pages, clearly aiming at mobile. I still use Yahoo Finance, but that's about it. So sure, mobile use should be up, and they did need to make changes, but overall it doesn't look promising for this user.

News item just in: "The NYC and SF Attorney Generals have issued a statement urging users to install iOS 7 on account of its Activation Lock feature, which can remotely render a lost/stolen device useless."

Thank you all for your comments. Actually my daughter did have the ap to track it, but it never gave us a location. The lesson for my daughter is to be more careful with her valuables, particularly items coveted by youth. But theft of iPhones and iPads is such a problem that one would think that Apple would work a little more on solutions.

It irritates me that Apple has done nothing to deter theft. After my daughter's ipad was stolen and I had reported to the police, I called Apple to report it. I expected that they would look up the serial number and mark it as stolen (we were already listed as the buyer for that machine in their data base). They said, huh? I said, "well, if someone brings it in claiming it's theirs but they forgot the password then at least you won't help them. Perhaps you could get their ID and report to the police." They said they wouldn't get involved. Then you would essentially jail-break it for them, I asked? They said they would have to do what the "customer" asked. I told them they would be abetting a crime. The response I got was essentially to get lost.

For the time being, they are likely to sell every mini they can make for $329 and up. Believe it or not, many people will find this very same product more appealing priced at $329 than at $299. (If you don't understand that, perhaps I could introduce you to my wife.) After an upgrade, then they'll sell the old minis for $279 or something, when they can crank them out for less.

Impressive research. Thanks for the article. I agree that over the long haul, Apple could have trouble keeping up with new technology that Samsung might develop. Or suppliers might lack the capital to expand enough to keep up with the sales growth that is needed to meet Aapl stock price targets in the future. But when? Your article lacks any reason to believe that sales will be hurt enough over the next few quarters to derail growth.

Your article makes some reasonable points (which can be argued, of course.) Most comments are emotional, religious eruptions, which you should ignore. Unfortunately, you have repeatedly stooped to the level of your attackers by name-calling ("bagholders"), which lends credence to their attacks upon your objectivity.

Why Apple's Buyback And Dividend Plan Is A Disappointing Drop In The Bucket [View article]

Well, two things. First, the tax issue so many have mentioned. Second, the dividend can be raised going forward. I'm pretty sure that Cook and co. understand that a company needs for its dividend to be stable or increasing going forward. So this should signal confidence for the long term re. earnings. I don't see how this can be disappointing.